In a dilemma

xxchrisxx

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In a dilemma

« on: July 31, 2010, 05:56:33 AM »

Hi guys, just joined & nice to meet you all!

I'll try my best to type in English, so bare with me.

I've worked out for a little over 1 year now & am glad to say that i've reached my weight goal of 187lbs/85kg. The problem is although i've gained muscles throughout the year, i've also unavoidably gained some fat as well.
My current goal is to maintain my body weight but change the body composition. (Increase muscle, lower bodyfat, same weight)

As far as this amateur knows, i need around 3200Kcal a day to maintain my body weight. So how much does the calories need to come from protein , carbs & fat? Do i follow the 4:3:3 guideline?

I'm really confused with how my diet should be right now, so anyone who knows please do help out. If you feel there's lack of info do ask, questions are welcomed.


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HerrKaputt

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2010, 05:57:46 AM »

Scooby's calorie calculator will sort you out:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/caloriecalculator.htm

If you have further questions don't hesitate to ask!


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xxchrisxx

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2010, 09:47:41 AM »

I used the tool & it was amazing, it cleared a lot of things up for me. It definitely made me planning for my daily meals a lot easier.

I have a question though, how should i pick the macro nutrients ratio that best suits me ? What factors should i base on to help me decide?

Also, i'm not being skeptical of scooby's calculator, but from reading of other bodybuilding forums/sites in the past, on average they would recommend a daily calorie intake of around 3200Kcal , instead of the 3700Kcal of which the calculator indicated as i picked (gain muscle/reduce fat). Is it something that i'm missing or do not quite understand?

I'm currently 5'10", 187lbs


« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 09:56:36 AM by xxchrisxx »	Logged

HerrKaputt

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2010, 09:56:00 AM »

Regarding the nutrient ratios, the general guideline is that you should have 0.75 to 1 g of protein per day per pound of bodyweight. So in your case, you should ingest between 140 and 187 grams of protein per day. That's between 561 and 748 kcal per day coming from protein.

I am more conservative than most bodybuilders (I'm not a bodybuilder myself), so I go for 30% protein, 50% carbs, 20% fat. What you should keep in mind is that these ratios are of very little importance: science has shown that as long as you have a mild calorie deficit, you lose weight at the same rate no matter what these ratios are, and very low-fat, low-protein or low-carb diets are actually harmful because they deprive you of some essential nutrients.

Regarding your rather high value of 3700 kcal: are you sure you input your data correctly? I just had a go with your numbers and various age numbers and the maximum I got was 3500 kcal-ish at age 16 and 5-6 hours a week of strenuous exercise. If you are older it will be less than that.

The only way I see to get so high numbers is if you selected 7-21 hours a week of strenuous exercise. Is this the case? If yes, please explain here why you chose that option, it might not be adequate (for example, weight-lifting exercise doesn't really count for this total, but cardio does).

Also, what's your age, so I can exactly reproduce your results?


« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 10:01:18 AM by HerrKaputt »	Logged

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xxchrisxx

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2010, 10:20:04 AM »

Well, i visit the gym 5 times a week. Around 90 minutes each time, so that give me 7.5 hours but besides that, my daily activities aren't too strenuous/active at all, i would say average. As i thought weight lifting counts, since you've corrected me, i gave the calculator another try.

Here's what i typed in

Male
187lbs
176cm
Age 20
5-6 Hours of exercise (Should be right?)
Gain Muscle/Reduce Fat
4 meals a day
40:40:20

And yes, the current results does make it a lot more achievable for me now


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HerrKaputt

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2010, 02:18:13 PM »

The thing in Scooby's calculator, and in all calculators for that matter, is that they ask you how much exercise you do and then try to estimate your TDEE from that. What it does is find how many calories ABOVE your BMR your TDEE is.

Weight training usually doesn't burn that many calories. You will burn way more calories by jogging for 1 hour than by doing weights for 1 hour (and if you could sprint for 1 hour, you would burn even more, etc). What I do when I use Scooby's calculator is to discard the weight training and only count the hours of cardio I do.


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Goldie

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Re: In a dilemma

« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2010, 07:04:21 PM »

Chris, in your gain muscle/lose fat goals but staying at the same weight, you need to keep this in mind: unless you're a growing teen, you can expect to gain only 5-10 pounds of muscle a YEAR. You can healthily lose 2 pounds of fat a week.

So if you want to stay at the same weight, expect that the change will occur slowly!


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